Bangkok: Cambodian authorities say an Australian filmmaker has been arrested in Phnom Penh for allegedly living in Cambodia illegally, and not for spying as earlier reported in the local media.
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James Ricketson, 68, has been held in immigration detention since last Saturday after photographs showed him flying a drone over a political rally ahead of local elections on Sunday.
Lou Rabo, deputy municipal police chief in charge of immigration, told the Cambodia Daily that Mr Ricketson was not carrying his passport when authorities confronted him on Phnom Penh's riverside.
"He didn't have it. This means he is living in Cambodia illegally," he said.
Earlier Fresh News, an online site close to Cambodia's ruling party, published photos of Mr Ricketson in handcuffs and said he had been arrested on suspicion of spying.
The site said Mr Ricketson, from Sydney, was gathering information without permission and police and local authorities wanted to take legal action against him.
Mr Ricketson studied at the Australian Film and Television School and has made award-winning feature films and documentaries.
He has campaigned for the release of children from orphanages and for the release of a British man convicted and jailed over child sex who he says is innocent.
In 2014 a Phnom Penh court gave Mr Ricketson a two-year suspended sentence for allegedly threatening to defame a refuge for girls run by an Australian charity. He had been campaigning for the release of two girls from the centre whose mother wanted them to come home.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said it would provide consular assistance to Mr Ricketson, who could not be reached for comment.
